Pinata-making art lives on in Mexican family

A Mexican party isn’t complete without a piñata, and Melesio Vicente Flores and Cecilia Albarran Gonzalez have spent the last 25 years making high-end versions of the papier-mache figures to later be stuffed with candies and broken open with a stick or club.

As they practice the centuries-old tradition of pinata-making, the couple caters to a smaller market of consumers demanding higher quality “artistic” figures that pay greater attention to detail. Still, competition is tight as more run-of-the mill pinatamakers sell their creations more cheaply. Three other rooftops full of the drying figures are visible on the hillside below the couple’s workshop and home.

At their four-story house built into a hillside on the east side of Mexico’s sprawling capital, the Vicente-Albarran family fashions cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse for children’s birthdays, or caricatures of despised politicians for protests.

Now in their 50s, the couple began making pinatas in 1989 and later expanded the family business to include their daughter Elvia Vicente Albarran and son-in-law Guillermo Luna Martinez.

On the rooftop of their shared home, Luna covers cement molds in the shapes of body parts with newspaper and lays them out to dry. One story below, mother and daughter cut newspapers into strips, coat them in glue made from wheat flour and layer over gaps left after the shapes are cut from the molds. Vicente assembles the pieces into completed characters.

After drying in the sun, the pinatas are brought inside to be painted. Colorful paper and tape create eyes, hair styles and costume details.

It takes about two days to complete a pinata during the dry season, twice as long during the rains. With all four people working, the family can make 40 to 60 pinatas a week.

“It’s hard work and there are lots of things to do, so there is no chance of getting bored. Time flies,” Albarran says.

Perennial favorites among the different figures include Spiderman and Buzz Lightyear. Characters from the Disney hit “Frozen” currently appear to be top sellers in local markets, and Albarran says “princesses never go out of fashion.”

Pinata vendors keep the craftsmen apprised of the market. Gerardo Moreno Alejo, who sells pinatas at La Merced, one of Mexico City’s biggest markets, says university students requested pinatas of President Enrique Pena Nieto late last year amid anger over the disappearance of 43 students from a rural teachers college.

Albarran says more recent entrants to the trade have cut prices and lowered quality, causing many people to leave the business. Her family’s more elaborate pinatas sell wholesale for around 180 pesos, or $12. Other vendors using cheaper materials sell theirs for several dollars less, a price difference many shoppers can’t resist.

“Before if we sold 100, now we sell 50 in a week,” says Vicente. “We earn just enough to get by.”

Still, they hope to keep making pinatas as long as possible.

“We are not here to make ourselves rich,” says Albarran. “We like our job.”

− REBECCA BLACKWELL, Associated Press

In this Jan. 23, 2015 photo, Jasmin Membrillo, center, accompanied by her daughter Cinthya Jasmin, picks out a piñata representing Disney’s Frozen snowman character Olaf, for an upcoming birthday party, at La Merced market in Mexico City. Market vendor Gerardo Moreno Alejo and his wife Edith, at left, sell piñatas and avocados from their stall in La Merced, one of Mexico City’s largest markets. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

In this Friday, Jan. 23, 2015 photo, Guillermo Luna Martinez paints the first layer of a piñata that will represent Captain America, at his in-laws’ workshop in the Iztapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City. Luna hadn’t intend to become a professional piñata maker when he came looking for work as a teenager about 17 years ago. “I only came to work for a while, nothing more, to get together some money.” But he quickly fell for the daughter of his employer. “Everything came together. I had money, I had a girlfriend, I had practically my whole life sorted out.” (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

In this Jan. 20, 2015 photo, Cecilia Albarran Gonzalez, 54, lifts a freshly papier-mached piñata in the form of My Little Pony, to carry it outside to dry, at her family’s home workshop in the Iztapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City. Competition from craftsmen using lower quality materials and techniques has cut their sales in half. But Albarran said some people still choose to buy their higher priced “artistic” piñatas. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

In this Jan. 20, 2015 photo, Melesio Vicente Flores, 59, attaches a head to a structured piñata that when assembled and painted will resemble a Disney princess, in his family’s workshop in the Iztapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City. Flores and his wife Cecilia Albarran Gonzalez have crafted the papier-mache figures for 25 years in their four-story house. While competition drives down prices, the cost of primary materials, such as newspapers, wheat flour and lard, has been rising. “It once supported us more or less. Today not any more,” he said. “There is no left over.” (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

In this Jan. 20, 2015 photo, Cecilia Albarran Gonzalez, 54, smoothes layers of papier-mache onto the back of a horse piñata, in her home in the Iztapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City. Albarran and her husband Melesio Vicente Flores have crafted the papier-mache figures for 25 years in their four-story house. “It’s hard work and there are lots of things to do,” says Albarran,” so there is no chance of getting bored. Time flies.” (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

In this Jan. 23, 2015 photo, piñatas in various stages of preparation dry on the rooftop terrace of craftsman Melesio Vicente Flores and his family, in the Iztapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City. After drying in the sun, the piñatas are brought inside to be painted. It takes about two days to complete a piñata during the dry season, twice as long during the rains. With four people working, the family is able to make 40 to 60 piñatas a week. “You have to hang on in good times and bad,” said Vicente. “As for me, I like this work a lot. Really, I found satisfaction. I can’t complain.” (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

In this Jan. 20, 2015 photo, Guillermo Luna Martinez smoothes strips of newspaper moistened with a glue made from wheat flour onto piñata molds for creating structured piñatas, which involve separate pieces that need to be assembled, on the rooftop of his in-laws’ family workshop in the Iztapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City. Luna said an advantage of working with his family is that he can spend more time with his wife and children. But, he said, the job doesn’t have the guaranteed paycheck that working for a company would. “Here if we don’t work, we don’t earn,” he said. “As long as we work very hard, there is enough to get by, to support ourselves.” (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

In this Jan. 23, 2015 photo, a piñata designed to resemble Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is displayed with other piñatas representing popular children’s characters, at a La Merced market stall run by Gerardo Moreno Alejo and his wife Edith. Piñata vendors keep the craftsmen apprised of the market. Moreno says that university students requested piñatas of Pena Nieto late last year amid anger over the disappearance of 43 students from a rural teachers college. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

In this Jan. 23, 2015 photo, Guillermo Luna Martinez sprinkles glitter on a freshly painted piñata designed to represent Disney princess Elsa from the Disney movie Frozen, at his in-laws family workshop in the Iztapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City. The family says that more competition and rising materials costs have turned a once decent income into a trade that barely covers their living costs. Still, Cecilia Albarran Gonzalez, 54, and husband Melesio Vicente Flores, 59, say they will continue to make piñata as long as possible. “We are not here to make ourselves rich with a few piñata,” says Albarran. “We like our job.” (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

In this Friday, Jan. 20, 2015 photo, Guillermo Luna Martinez paints piñata that when done will resemble Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear, at his in-laws’ workshop, in the Iztapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City. The family says that more competition and rising materials costs have turned a once decent income into a trade that barely covers their living costs. Still, Cecilia Albarran Gonzalez, 54 and her husband Melesio Vicente Flores, 59, say they will continue to make piñata as long as possible. “We are not here to make ourselves rich with a few piñatas,” says Albarran. “We like our job.” (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

In this Jan. 23, 2015 photo, Veronica Macias, right, accompanied by her son Yosef Alejandro Cruz, picks out a piñata resembling a pole dancing stripper for her nephew’s 17th birthday party, at La Merced market in Mexico City. “Before, (piñatas) were just for Christmas parties,” said piñata maker Cecilia Albarran Gonzalez. “Now, at any party there is a piñata.” (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

In this Jan. 20, 2015 photo, a piñata resembling Sleeping Beauty stands among other partially finished piñatas, inside the workshop of Melesio Vicente Flores and his wife Cecilia Albarran Gonzalez, in the Iztapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City. Piñata vendors keep the craftsmen apprised of the market. Perennial favorites among the different figures include Spiderman, Mickey Mouse and Buzz Lightyear. Characters from the Disney hit Frozen currently appear to be top sellers in local markets, while Albarran says “princesses never go out of fashion.” (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

In this Jan. 23, 2015 photo, Melesio Vicente Flores carries piñatas designed to look like Disney princesses Elsa and Sofia, to his truck as he prepares a delivery to market vendors, at his home in the Iztapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City. Despite some past problems with copyright infringement crackdowns, piñata makers say they have to make the characters their clients want. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Matt Dayhoff

Matt Dayhoff started as a photographer for the Journal Star in 1992 shortly after graduating from the Ohio University School of Visual Communications. In 2009, he moved into the newsroom as an online editor and producer and is now responsible for helping manage and edit much of the editorial content on pjstar.com.